South Wales Metro - Future

Peter Sarf · 22 May 2026

SWML9102 said:
Maybe...
Let's assume the shuttle between Bridgend would be a simple overlay onto the existing timetable, with times 30 mins offset from the existing Maesteg - Ebbw Vale services. That would give an xx04 arrival into P3 at Bridgend, and xx09 departure back to Maesteg.

Assuming a 4 min change is allowable at Bridgend, which would be a simple cross platform change from P3 to P2, then the connection would be into the xx08 all stops service from Pembroke Dock to Cardiff Central. However, that does not run every hour, so in the other hours you would have a 24 minute wait at Bridgend to connect into the xx28 Manchester service.

Going the other direction you would need to pick up the GWR Swansea or Carmarthen service at Cardiff, giving an 11/12 minute wait at Bridgend. Plenty of time for crossing from P1 to P3 if the GWR runs to time (my own experience is westbound GWR services are the most likely to run late between Cardiff and Bridgend). No good if you are using PAYG, in which case the preceeding train from Cardiff would be the Maesteg service anyway. And that assumes you are aware of the connection - I doubt platform announcements at Cardiff will advertise the GWR as next available service for Maesteg passengers with a change at Bridgend.

Sorry if my posts on this are negative! I just can't see it being much of a success, albeit a small improvement on the existing provision.

My bold.

Currently the service from Pembroke is not hourly. But I imagine it could be if a train from Maesteg is not using the path from Bridgend to Cardiff. That would make it possible for an hourly service from as far West as Pembroke to Cardiff BUT certainly from Swansea. Depends if Swansea is viewed as more deserving than Maesteg - I would say yes as there will be multiple connections as Swansea and beyond. So a core service between Swansea (or somewhere West of that) to Newport (and points East of there). A service aeery 15 minutes or better between Newport and Swansea would make connections at places like Bridgend so much more civilised.

I got the impression that although TfW PAYG (Pay As You Go) is not valid on GW services in the relevant area the plan is to change that so they are valid ?.
(you never know - a joined up approach triggered by GBR might be innevitable).

No need to apologise for being negative - after all there is a big difference between common sense and reality. It really comes down to if TfWs masters want-to/can spend money on enhanced services.

RailUK Forums

SWML9102 · 22 May 2026

Yes, i agree, Swansea is more deserving of improved service on the mainline if capacity is limited. I also agree 4tph between Newport and Swansea would be ideal. One of the issues at the moment is the uneven spread across the hour, especially with the two westbound "fast" services following each other closely. It would be far better if they were around 30 mins apart.

Swanline stops certainly need to be hourly, wonder if even half hourly could be justified. Although I would favour speeding up the Swanline by removing Pontyclun, Llanharan and Pencoed (as in the old timetable) and picking these up with a second Maesteg stopper.

A possible pattern could be two fasts (one GWR, one TfW) 30 mins apart, with Swanline stoppers flighted just behind, together with half hourly Maesteg. My guess is the capacity constraints are at Cardiff West and also fitting in freight between all that.

Rhydgaled · 20 Jun 2026

Cardiff123 said:
Bringing back Platform 5 at Cardiff Central as a bay platform for terminating services from the West would help with this, and it almost happened during the Cardiff Area Signalling Renewal 10 years ago

A west-facing bay at Cardiff Central doesn't make sense to me at the moment, because the GWML falls to double-track west of Cardiff compared to four tracks east of Cardiff. Until such time as capacity is improved west of Cardiff, an east-facing bay would make more sense as there are loads more services coming into Cardiff from the east which will need to terminate at Cardiff because of lack of capacity further west.

SWML9102 said:
Yes, i agree, Swansea is more deserving of improved service on the mainline if capacity is limited. I also agree 4tph between Newport and Swansea would be ideal. One of the issues at the moment is the uneven spread across the hour, especially with the two westbound "fast" services following each other closely. It would be far better if they were around 30 mins apart.

Swanline stops certainly need to be hourly, wonder if even half hourly could be justified. Although I would favour speeding up the Swanline by removing Pontyclun, Llanharan and Pencoed (as in the old timetable) and picking these up with a second Maesteg stopper.

A possible pattern could be two fasts (one GWR, one TfW) 30 mins apart, with Swanline stoppers flighted just behind, together with half hourly Maesteg. My guess is the capacity constraints are at Cardiff West and also fitting in freight between all that.

Wasn't there supposed to be a new station coming at Miskin as part of the franchise award to KeolisAmey from 2018? Admittedly COVID happened and the Operator Of Last Resort replaced KeolisAmey, but if a new station could be built somewhere like Miskin, with platforms on the loops rather than the through lines, I think that could be quite helpful as the faster trains could then overtake the stoppers there. I agree that the fast services between Cardiff and Swansea should be evened out to 30 minute intervals, but should they retain the half-hourly Paddington services in the morning and evening or replace one with TfW?

As a minimum (I wouldn't say no to more), I think there should be the following eastbound GWML departures from Swansea each hour:

2tph fast InterCity (GWR 9-car 80x, TfW mark 4 or equivelant): calling at Neath, Port Talbot Parkway, Bridgend, Cardiff Central and Newport (and no other intermediate stations over that stretch)
1tph Swanline (TfW FLIRTs or, in the short-term, 197s): calling at all stations (including all those between Bridgend and Cardiff, which would also be served by the Maesteg trains 30 minutes later)
1tph semi-fast (TfW 197s in the short-term, GWR/GBR class 387s or similar in the longer-term): calling at Neath, Port Talbot Parkway, Pyle, Bridgend, Cardiff Central, Cardiff Parkway, Newport (a Miskin stop could be added if needed for the fasts to overtake)

None of these should terminate at Cardiff/Newport, but there are far more possible destinations to the east than we can serve with through services from Swansea.

Akela · 21 Jun 2026

Something that might interest people here - on Mark Barry’s site there’s a scan of the original tram proposal that was made during the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay back in the early 90’s that sadly never came to fruition:

While it’s broadly similar to what is currently planned, it also includes an on-street section within the city centre itself, and I think the lack of something similar is a huge missed opportunity of the current plan which I hope is remedied one day in a future phase.

Might be more tricky with the redevelopments within the city centre like St David’s or the pedestrianisation that’s happened since then, but I think a branch that splits south of Cathays around Dumfries Place, travelling westward down the road with a station in front of the museum/city hall, then down North Rd with a station near the castle, then the up/down lines splitting into single track sections down St Mary’s Street and The Hayes with one or more stations on their respective streets (similar to the Croydon tram loop) then recombining to a stop underneath the central station viaduct to connect with the Bay line would be pretty viable, making the system generally more accessible for people who usually take buses.

Plus it would increase capacity significantly as trains wouldn’t be funnelled into the two track viaduct between Queen Street and Central - the longer distance services could take the current direct route while services terminating at Pontypridd and Caerphilly could take the on-street route.

CapitalStar378 · 21 Jun 2026

Akela said:
Something that might interest people here - on Mark Barry’s site there’s a scan of the original tram proposal that was made during the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay back in the early 90’s that sadly never came to fruition:

View attachment 206448

While it’s broadly similar to what is currently planned, it also includes an on-street section within the city centre itself, and I think the lack of something similar is a huge missed opportunity of the current plan which I hope is remedied one day in a future phase.

Might be more tricky with the redevelopments within the city centre like St David’s or the pedestrianisation that’s happened since then, but I think a branch that splits south of Cathays around Dumfries Place, travelling westward down the road with a station in front of the museum/city hall, then down North Rd with a station near the castle, then the up/down lines splitting into single track sections down St Mary’s Street and The Hayes with one or more stations on their respective streets (similar to the Croydon tram loop) then recombining to a stop underneath the central station viaduct to connect with the Bay line would be pretty viable, making the system generally more accessible for people who usually take buses.

Plus it would increase capacity significantly as trains wouldn’t be funnelled into the two track viaduct between Queen Street and Central - the longer distance services could take the current direct route while services terminating at Pontypridd and Caerphilly could take the on-street route.

This would have been a much, much better scheme which would provide broader transport opportunities within the city centre, as well as to the Bay.

I believe that the MTR bid for the Wales & Borders franchise included a lot more city centre street running, although am not sure of the detail. What a shame that it was awarded to KeolisAmey.

Peter Sarf · 21 Jun 2026

Akela said:
Something that might interest people here - on Mark Barry’s site there’s a scan of the original tram proposal that was made during the redevelopment of Cardiff Bay back in the early 90’s that sadly never came to fruition:

View attachment 206448

While it’s broadly similar to what is currently planned, it also includes an on-street section within the city centre itself, and I think the lack of something similar is a huge missed opportunity of the current plan which I hope is remedied one day in a future phase.

Might be more tricky with the redevelopments within the city centre like St David’s or the pedestrianisation that’s happened since then, but I think a branch that splits south of Cathays around Dumfries Place, travelling westward down the road with a station in front of the museum/city hall, then down North Rd with a station near the castle, then the up/down lines splitting into single track sections down St Mary’s Street and The Hayes with one or more stations on their respective streets (similar to the Croydon tram loop) then recombining to a stop underneath the central station viaduct to connect with the Bay line would be pretty viable, making the system generally more accessible for people who usually take buses.

Plus it would increase capacity significantly as trains wouldn’t be funnelled into the two track viaduct between Queen Street and Central - the longer distance services could take the current direct route while services terminating at Pontypridd and Caerphilly could take the on-street route.

Living in Croydon I have often wondered why Cardiff clung on to using the heavy rail lines in the centre. If you are going to have tram-trains then might as well relieve stretched capacity on the heavy rail route by allowing for access to several stops withing Cardiff city centre.

I also see the tantalising route towards the barrage. Beyond that is Penarth and I know of relatives who live at the bottom of that bank that has to be climbed to get to Dingle Road station who would dearly love a more direct route to their places of employment - even if it meant walking across the weir and locks on the existing road lift-bridge that might even be suitable for tram tracks.

Akela · 21 Jun 2026

Peter Sarf said:
Living in Croydon I have often wondered why Cardiff clung on to using the heavy rail lines in the centre. If you are going to have tram-trains then might as well relieve stretched capacity on the heavy rail route by allowing for access to several stops withing Cardiff city centre.

I also see the tantalising route towards the barrage. Beyond that is Penarth and I know of relatives who live at the bottom of that bank that has to be climbed to get to Dingle Road station who would dearly love a more direct route to their places of employment - even if it meant walking across the weir and locks on the existing road lift-bridge that might even be suitable for tram tracks.

A potential stop at Alexandra Head (the area at the start of the barrage, near where the skatepark is) is on the cards with the current plan - TFW did a consultation a while back that included a few different options for extending the line beyond Pierhead Street:

Actually having the tram traverse the barrage might be too complicated from an infrastructure perspective, plus could cause delays or issues if the locks have to be opened for an extended period of time. Would pretty cool though and might become an attraction in it’s own right on sunny days.

Peter Sarf · 22 Jun 2026

Akela said:
A potential stop at Alexandra Head (the area at the start of the barrage, near where the skatepark is) is on the cards with the current plan - TFW did a consultation a while back that included a few different options for extending the line beyond Pierhead Street:
View attachment 206468

Actually having the tram traverse the barrage might be too complicated from an infrastructure perspective, plus could cause delays or issues if the locks have to be opened for an extended period of time. Would pretty cool though and might become an attraction in it’s own right on sunny days.

I think the bridge only opens (swings up iirc) a few times a day from my own observation, it is a nice circular walk. So would not be much interruption. I know relatives eye up that route to work as it is more direct. Once beyond Cardiff Bay station towards the Barrage it would be largely off road or at least on lightly used roads with room for segregated running. It would really bring the most Eastern side of Penarth into a better public transport offering. It is cut off from the rest of Penarth by that huge bank (it is all the exercise one needs). There is one road up that bank from the Barrage end and I wonder if a tram could handle it !.

Envoy · 22 Jun 2026

I am pleased that plans to run on-street in the city appear to have been dropped. Cardiff city centre is compact and it just requires a short walk from either Central or Queen Street stations. By having on street - running you introduce the likelihood of delays and services not keeping to schedule. It that happens, the places in the upper valleys will be most affected with services terminating short in order to get back on schedule.

Regarding the Penarth Marina area: the Penarth Dock station (limestone building still present on E side of track) should have had a platform with adjoining car park where Cogan Tesco stands today = another goof up by the planners back in the late 80’s. Hopefully, they will get a linking walkway from the Cardiff bound platform at Cogan going under the road over the railwayand then linking with the path to Pont-Y-Werin footbridge. (I have seen people trying to cross the main road by the mini roundabout to get from Cogan station to the sport village area on the peninsula).

Peter Sarf · 24 Jun 2026

Envoy said:
I am pleased that plans to run on-street in the city appear to have been dropped. Cardiff city centre is compact and it just requires a short walk from either Central or Queen Street stations. By having on street - running you introduce the likelihood of delays and services not keeping to schedule. It that happens, the places in the upper valleys will be most affected with services terminating short in order to get back on schedule.

Regarding the Penarth Marina area: the Penarth Dock station (limestone building still present on E side of track) should have had a platform with adjoining car park where Cogan Tesco stands today = another goof up by the planners back in the late 80’s. Hopefully, they will get a linking walkway from the Cardiff bound platform at Cogan going under the road over the railwayand then linking with the path to Pont-Y-Werin footbridge. (I have seen people trying to cross the main road by the mini roundabout to get from Cogan station to the sport village area on the peninsula).

Yes it is all a mangled mess at Cogan. Gets quite congested road wise at the roundabout and no easy walking routes. For my relatives a station on the Penarth branch somewhere near Cogan/Tescos would be preferable to Dingle Road as they then would not have to climb up the bank. We mainly walk over the lift bridge ("Pont-Y-Werin footbridge") and get the bus (number 9) into Cardiff city. I have gone off it as I think the bus cost me more than the Pay As You Go train fare and I also had to pay for the 11 year old granddaughter.

A lovely idea would be a Cogan station before the Barry and Penarth lines split.

cloakanddagger · 15 Jul 2026

Cogan was a case study for one of the modules on my postgrad degree. The station area is indeed a mess, it's got limited accessibility (the Cardiff-bound platform has no step free access at all; most journeys from the station are towards Cardiff Central), no platform on the Penarth branch, walking routes around the station are generally unattractive with some very narrow pavements along Cogan Hill, no nearby pedestrian crossings except for some islands on the roundabout that get overcrowded at rush hour (my other half used to commute to Cogan station for work and she always said crossing at the roundabout felt very unsafe). Cogan Hill itself gets incredibly congested, I've been through multiple times and it gets gridlocked sometimes as early as 1pm. It's also the closest station to Llandough hospital but the walking route there is quite hilly and crosses multiple busy roads.

If I remember our final proposals were to reopen the Penarth branch platform with full accessibility between that and the existing VOG platforms, replace the existing footbridge with an accessible one, upgrade pedestrian crossings at the roundabout and redevelop the station frontage to make it a more welcoming place to be. Obviously there are a lot of complications with the rail infrastructure not being devolved, as well as multiple local authorities covering the station's catchment area.

Cardiff123 · 15 Jul 2026

cloakanddagger said:
Cogan was a case study for one of the modules on my postgrad degree. The station area is indeed a mess, it's got limited accessibility (the Cardiff-bound platform has no step free access at all; most journeys from the station are towards Cardiff Central), no platform on the Penarth branch, walking routes around the station are generally unattractive with some very narrow pavements along Cogan Hill, no nearby pedestrian crossings except for some islands on the roundabout that get overcrowded at rush hour (my other half used to commute to Cogan station for work and she always said crossing at the roundabout felt very unsafe). Cogan Hill itself gets incredibly congested, I've been through multiple times and it gets gridlocked sometimes as early as 1pm. It's also the closest station to Llandough hospital but the walking route there is quite hilly and crosses multiple busy roads.

If I remember our final proposals were to reopen the Penarth branch platform with full accessibility between that and the existing VOG platforms, replace the existing footbridge with an accessible one, upgrade pedestrian crossings at the roundabout and redevelop the station frontage to make it a more welcoming place to be. Obviously there are a lot of complications with the rail infrastructure not being devolved, as well as multiple local authorities covering the station's catchment area.

Unless you can drive to it, Cogan is an awful station to use. For people living in Llandough it's their nearest station, but you need to be fit enough to manage the walk uphill to get home. And the walk along the very narrow pavement over the road bridge and up Cogan hill can feel unsafe when there's bumper to bumper traffic, not to mention the pollution you're breathing in.
And as has been said, crossing the Tesco roundabout to get to Penarth Marina is taking your life in your hands.

If I ever take the train with my disabled mother, we drive to Penarth instead, as Cogan is completely inaccessible for her. When the station footbridge was renewed 6 years ago, that would've been a perfect opportunity to install an access for all lift bridge...........

The station and surrounding land is all in the Vale of Glamorgan Council area, but once you cross the Pont-Y-Werin footbridge, you're in Cardiff (the boundary between the 2 councils is right down the middle of the Taff river).

And of course Cogan station is Network Rail owned, so naturally, there's no chance of any major funding being allocated for a full station redevelopment. If the new Plaid Cymru Welsh Government is successful in securing full devolution of rail infrastructure in Wales under our next Prime Minister, maybe there's hope something will happen at Cogan in future.........

Envoy · 16 Jul 2026

I think that the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation planned what was to happen in the Bay area back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Had readers of this forum known that they were going to put a Tesco right where a station should have been (as was in the old days) on the Penarth branch, then I am sure that we would all have said this is not good planning.

The Pelican · 16 Jul 2026

I think Manchester Metrolink shows that street running can substantially improve the public's ability to locate and use a tram or train service- in fact in Manchester, part of the Phase 3 "Big Bang" expansion was spent in getting trams onto the street in Oldham and Rochdale, with Oldham having a tram run from one side to the other, returning to the original rail route on both sides, and Rochdale having a spur into the city center from the station.

Similarly, Birmingham and Wolverhampton have put a lot of effort into having their tramway, which formerly terminated at the edge of the centre in each case, run across the centre.

I think the main questions for any Cardiff City Center tram routes are-

1. Is it designed to be through running, from one side of the center to the other, or to terminate somewhere?

2. How does it interact with the rest of the network running through Queen Street? At a minimum, this might involve a third platform wherever street running services join non-street running services, to allow them to be generously timed across the city center and easily meet their slots on the main network.

3. How does it deal with crowds from the Millenium Stadium?

I'd suggest a spur off the existing Crossrail just before it reaches Central Station, crossing under the mainline along St Mary Street, stopping somewhere for Central station and the bus station, and then running up the least disruptive of Westgate/St Mary Street/ Mill Lane and The Hayes to a two platform terminus just south of Castle Street/Queen Street. This would be Phase 1, and would serve as a diversion and short extension of the upcoming Central-Bay shuttles. If needed, rearranging the junction between this extension and Cardiff Crossrail could allow trains to run to it from the future Ninian Park-Cardiff Crossrail tracks.

Useage of this spur could determine if an extension to Cathys would be popular with the public!

Envoy · 16 Jul 2026

Streets in Cardiff city centre - such as High Street, Castle Street, Queen Street, Westgate Street and The Hayes are totally unsuitable for having trams as they have high volumes of pedestrians - even when no events are taking place. Besides, Cardiff Central and Queen Street stations are only a short walk from the main shopping and office areas.

The purpose of The Metro is to shift people as efficiently as possible around SE Wales with obviously the greatest flows heading for Cardiff city centre. Indeed, there are also ‘flows’ crossing the Cardiff urban area from the valleys to the coast with Barry Island being a popular destination in summer. Cardiff Central obviously provides the interchange with the main line services. Having tram-trains wandering through congested streets will just screw whole system up and make the streets less pleasant for pedestrians.

Once the link is made from the Bay Line to Central, the next priorities should surely be to connect this with the tracks over the Taff bridge; connect Hirwaun to the network at Aberdare; connect the Bay station with the freight lines in Splott and hence Newport Road; build the line from Fairwater north westward out to Cregiau with suitable P&R stops to serve Plasdwr and outlying villages such at Peterson-super-Ely & Redlava; complete an extension from Coryton to serve the new Velindre hospital and continue a 1 mile link to connect with Radyr for a city circle line.

Thought should also be given as to how best serve Cardiff Airport in the event that passenger numbers/flights increase. (Perhaps a link line on/off the VOG Coast line should have route protection now)? A new station should be built at St.Athan.

The new stations on the mainline between Cardiff & Severn Tunnel Junction should also be a priority. (There is a massive flow of commuter traffic into Cardiff from the east).

Akela · 16 Jul 2026

Envoy said:
Streets in Cardiff city centre - such as High Street, Castle Street, Queen Street, Westgate Street and The Hayes are totally unsuitable for having trams as they have high volumes of pedestrians - even when no events are taking place. Besides, Cardiff Central and Queen Street stations are only a short walk from the main shopping and office areas.

You can solve at least some of that by splitting the up/down tracks between two streets (St Mary’s and The Hayes for example) so it’s effectively a single line track while on those streets, then have them merge again. Dublin’s tram system does a similar thing as does Croydon. Much less disruptive to pedestrians and businesses when it’s just a single track running through the middle of the street.

Yes, on event days the on-street line will likely have to close which will have an impact on frequency, but that only happens a few days each year and is something I’m sure TFW would be able to work around.

I don’t know, while there’s definitely some logistical issues to getting on-street running working in Cardiff I don’t think any of them are insurmountable or that different from other cities that have successfully retrofitted modern tram systems into their city centres. And the fact is if those issues are resolved you get a massive boost in frequency and accessibility of the network by having it embed itself within the city’s urban fabric.

Also, worth mentioning that St Mary’s Street and The Hayes both used to be open to vehicle traffic back in the day, St Mary’s Street in particular was only pedestrianised about a decade ago and used to be a double lane street (and I can remember all the moaning about that decision when it was first announced but ultimately has made that street much more vibrant then it’s ever been).

CapitalStar378 · 16 Jul 2026

I think that from the perspective of access to the Bay from the city centre, having a tram stop easily accessible would be a better solution. I know that the city centre is very compact, but I don't think walking to the back of Central station or to Queen Street station for a quick 3-5 minute journey is optimal. It works for changing trains or from the bus station, but is not ideal for an arena goer doing some shopping or having an early dinner in town before a gig. In this case, a bus would work better.

Akela · 16 Jul 2026

CapitalStar378 said:
I think that from the perspective of access to the Bay from the city centre, having a tram stop easily accessible would be a better solution. I know that the city centre is very compact, but I don't think walking to the back of Central station or to Queen Street station for a quick 3-5 minute journey is optimal. It works for changing trains or from the bus station, but is not ideal for an arena goer doing some shopping or having an early dinner in town before a gig. In this case, a bus would work better.

That’s another advantage of on-street running is that The Bay, Cardiff Central, City Centre, Cardiff Castle, Cathays Park and then destinations north of town could all be on a single, highly frequent line that people could easily jump on and off in the same way many people do with the Metrolink in Manchester.

One option would be to have an extra set of platforms for Cardiff Central under the railway viaduct at Penarth Rd, which would be closed to traffic. Could even be treated like an indoor station similar to the Piccadilly tram stop in Manchester with direct links to the rest of the station complex. This would allow north/south through running from the Bay into the city centre and beyond.

cloakanddagger · 20 Jul 2026

Akela said:
That’s another advantage of on-street running is that The Bay, Cardiff Central, City Centre, Cardiff Castle, Cathays Park and then destinations north of town could all be on a single, highly frequent line that people could easily jump on and off in the same way many people do with the Metrolink in Manchester.

One option would be to have an extra set of platforms for Cardiff Central under the railway viaduct at Penarth Rd, which would be closed to traffic. Could even be treated like an indoor station similar to the Piccadilly tram stop in Manchester with direct links to the rest of the station complex. This would allow north/south through running from the Bay into the city centre and beyond.

From what I remember reading about the original Crossrail proposal, even though it's a small section of on-street running it's basically meant to serve as a catalyst to allow for more on-street extensions in the future, both in Cardiff and elsewhere. Plenty of areas in Cardiff that are now too densely developed to add heavy rail lines would potentially benefit from this (Caerau and Culverhouse Cross in the West and Pontprennau, Llanedeyrn and Rumney in the East)

MikePJ · 11 Aug 2026

Just picking up a few bits and pieces from a Modern Railways piece in August 2026 about the future of the South Wales Metro.

In particular:

Modern Railways are basing their report on the Strategic Outline Case (SOC) which TfW published in response to a freedom of information request.
they expect the Cardiff West Junction upgrade to be completed by 2030 (based on how the funding is timed)
TfW are evaluating several options for joining the low-level tram platforms to the City and Penarth lines as part of the junction upgrade
The option that gives best value for money would involve converting the Penarth service to 398s (which in turn requires some additional electrification in the Cogan and Penarth area). Coryton-Penarth trains would go via a reversal at Cardiff Bay (Penarth-Central-Bay-Queen St-Coryton). There would then be an additional 2tph between Caerphilly and either Central or the Bay.
All the options they're looking at involve increasing the City Line to 4tph and the Coryton line to 4tph.

New stations:

Butetown station is described as opening "next year" and then "the focus will then shift to Crwys Road".

"The SOC considered new stations at Ely Mill, Gabalfa, Grangetown Hadfield Road and Roath Park, and a platform at Cogan on the Penarth branch. Cogan only has platforms on the Vale of Glamorgan line. To accommodate dwell time at the new platform, a passing loop would be required on the [Penarth] branch and additional rolling stock."

"[A]dditional station dwell time at Ely Mill could shift the meeting point for up and down services on the Aberdare line. The cost of double trakcing between Abercynon and Mountain Ash is included in the station's cost estimate."

A map shows that Grangetown Hadfield Road would be located at the end of Fleet Way (which is the continuation of Hadfield Road) and would be very close to the IKEA store and the new social housing that's been built on the gasworks site.

Finally, the piece says that the SOC excludes two proposals that have previously been discussed: the extension of the Coryton line to Radyr (this is described as a "longer-term option") and also the rather more limited extension to serve the new Velindre Cancer Centre.

Smwrff · 12 Aug 2026

MikePJ said:
A map shows that Grangetown Hadfield Road would be located at the end of Fleet Way (which is the continuation of Hadfield Road) and would be very close to the IKEA store and the new social housing that's been built on the gasworks site.

I hope they come up with a better name than that.....it was originally called Gasworks in an earler publication. There is a disused pedestrian underpass at that location which will make good access to Ferry Road/Ikea as well as the Penarth Rd/Hadfield Rd area.

Peter Sarf · 19 Aug 2026

MikePJ said:
Just picking up a few bits and pieces from a Modern Railways piece in August 2026 about the future of the South Wales Metro.

In particular:

Modern Railways are basing their report on the Strategic Outline Case (SOC) which TfW published in response to a freedom of information request.

they expect the Cardiff West Junction upgrade to be completed by 2030 (based on how the funding is timed)

TfW are evaluating several options for joining the low-level tram platforms to the City and Penarth lines as part of the junction upgrade

The option that gives best value for money would involve converting the Penarth service to 398s (which in turn requires some additional electrification in the Cogan and Penarth area). Coryton-Penarth trains would go via a reversal at Cardiff Bay (Penarth-Central-Bay-Queen St-Coryton). There would then be an additional 2tph between Caerphilly and either Central or the Bay.

All the options they're looking at involve increasing the City Line to 4tph and the Coryton line to 4tph.

New stations:

Butetown station is described as opening "next year" and then "the focus will then shift to Crwys Road".

A map shows that Grangetown Hadfield Road would be located at the end of Fleet Way (which is the continuation of Hadfield Road) and would be very close to the IKEA store and the new social housing that's been built on the gasworks site.

Finally, the piece says that the SOC excludes two proposals that have previously been discussed: the extension of the Coryton line to Radyr (this is described as a "longer-term option") and also the rather more limited extension to serve the new Velindre Cancer Centre.

That is very close to the existing Grangetown station ?.

But it would provide better pedestrian access to IKEA and shops beyond plus those along Penarth Road.

CapitalStar378 · 19 Aug 2026

MikePJ said:
Just picking up a few bits and pieces from a Modern Railways piece in August 2026 about the future of the South Wales Metro.

In particular:

Modern Railways are basing their report on the Strategic Outline Case (SOC) which TfW published in response to a freedom of information request.

they expect the Cardiff West Junction upgrade to be completed by 2030 (based on how the funding is timed)

TfW are evaluating several options for joining the low-level tram platforms to the City and Penarth lines as part of the junction upgrade

The option that gives best value for money would involve converting the Penarth service to 398s (which in turn requires some additional electrification in the Cogan and Penarth area). Coryton-Penarth trains would go via a reversal at Cardiff Bay (Penarth-Central-Bay-Queen St-Coryton). There would then be an additional 2tph between Caerphilly and either Central or the Bay.

All the options they're looking at involve increasing the City Line to 4tph and the Coryton line to 4tph.

New stations:

Butetown station is described as opening "next year" and then "the focus will then shift to Crwys Road".

A map shows that Grangetown Hadfield Road would be located at the end of Fleet Way (which is the continuation of Hadfield Road) and would be very close to the IKEA store and the new social housing that's been built on the gasworks site.

Finally, the piece says that the SOC excludes two proposals that have previously been discussed: the extension of the Coryton line to Radyr (this is described as a "longer-term option") and also the rather more limited extension to serve the new Velindre Cancer Centre.

A few thoughts on some of these plans.

Seems a missed opportunity to put in a park and ride at M4 J32 for what seems a relatively short extension to the Coryton line, with track bed in place, but priorities I guess. It would reduce traffic flows into town though.

The Coryton to Penarth journey will be lengthened by a fair bit by going via Butetown and Cardiff Bay then reversing to Central. Although this probably isn't an end to end journey for many.

4tph on the Coryton and City lines will be game changing and make both lines more viable commuting options vs. buses/driving.

I'm quite surprised at the relatively short time scale for connecting the tram platforms at Central to the main railway, will be good to see some movement on the Waterhall/Plasdwr plans next.

chargesmith · 19 Aug 2026

Peter Sarf said:
That is very close to the existing Grangetown station ?.

But it would provide better pedestrian access to IKEA and shops beyond plus those along Penarth Road.

It would be about 400 metres away from the edge of the Grangetown platform (depending on exactly where the platforms were placed of course).

For context Birchgrove and Ty Glas are about 300 metres apart.

It does feel close but it does give better access to shopping and workplaces so I think it's a good move, maybe shouldn't be prioritised over e.g. Gabalfa, which has a much bigger captive population and also serves retail and employment sites.

daodao · 19 Aug 2026

CapitalStar378 said:
The Coryton to Penarth journey will be lengthened by a fair bit by going via Butetown and Cardiff Bay

As someone who lived formerly very close to Whitchurch station for over 20 years and used the Coryton line regularly, diverting trains from this line via Butetown and Cardiff Bay between Cardiff Queen Street and Central stations would be unacceptable.

MikePJ · 19 Aug 2026

The article is a little vague about the specific details of how the Coryton service will work.
The exact quote in the article is:

[Scenario] G2: City line 4tph and Coryton 4tph, with Coryton-Penarth diverted via reversal at Cardiff Bay and 2tph Caerphilly to Bay or Central.

The way that I've read it, I think they mean 4tph Coryton-Bay-Central-Penarth, and then 2tph from Caerphilly to Bay or Central to replace the existing 2tph Caerphilly-Penarth service.

I do recall (but can't find the source now) that at one point there was also a proposal to make the Coryton service 2tph to Penarth and 2tph to Radyr via the City Line. If the 2tph Penarth service went via the Bay, that would still give Coryton a 2tph direct service to central. But this isn't described explicitly as an option in this article. The article claims to be based on a document that was apparently released under FOI, but I can't find the original to see what it actually says.

Peter Sarf · 20 Aug 2026

daodao said:
As someone who lived formerly very close to Whitchurch station for over 20 years and used the Coryton line regularly, diverting trains from this line via Butetown and Cardiff Bay between Cardiff Queen Street and Central stations would be unacceptable.

This does look to be making the Bay a new centre of the Cardiff rail universe. I could argue a better route would be on street running from the Coryton line before the junction at Heath all the way through any useful places in Cardiff to Central. Instead the journey to Central is achieved in a roundabout way that still conflicts North and South of Queen Street and misses the centre of Cardiff. I am talking from Croydon where we cope with trams on street running through and around the centre !.

The exile · 20 Aug 2026

daodao said:
As someone who lived formerly very close to Whitchurch station for over 20 years and used the Coryton line regularly, diverting trains from this line via Butetown and Cardiff Bay between Cardiff Queen Street and Central stations would be unacceptable.

Though no doubt there will be plenty (obviously not of through travellers) for whom it will be a great improvement.

MikePJ · 20 Aug 2026

There’s going to have to be quite a big mindset shift with Cardiff area commuters, as the higher frequencies and new routeings will mean that journeys involving a change of train will become more common. I do suspect that if the system is a big success TfW will have to rebuild Queen St comprehensively to provide cross-platform transfers, but that’s a way off yet.

Envoy · 20 Aug 2026

Regarding the Coryton branch; the question that needs to be asked is are people on this line more likely to wish to get to Central - with mainline connections - or Cardiff Bay? If the latter, some people would also lose direct services to Penarth.

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